The invention relates to a mobile bucket mechanism for the vertical or inclined collection and conveyance of bulk materials from ships or storage sites, the mechanism including a supporting structure for the return sheaves of the chains carrying the circulating buckets, with the buckets receiving the bulk material during a forward movement of the supporting structure.
To collect the bulk material, the known mobile bucket mechanisms are dipped into the bulk material and are then moved into the advancing direction transversely to the direction of movement of the buckets. In this case, the buckets perform a strong cutting function. Since the cutting and advancing forces are fully transferred from the buckets and the chain sheaves to the supporting structure of the bucket mechanism and the return sheaves for the chains, wear of buckets, chains, guides and return sheaves is unavoidable. For that reason such bucket mechanisms are of robust design which, however, results in a great amount of dead weight which is a drawback, particularly if the bucket mechanism is suspended from the tip of the cantilever arm of a ship's unloading apparatus. Moreover, such wear results in work interruption and the need for replacement parts, thus increasing operating and maintenance costs, reducing service life and correspondingly increasing layover costs for ships.